Abandoning Rain
by HolydaughterofZeus
Summary: Rain knows what having a soulfinder can do to you. What it's done to her brothers. It makes you crazy, makes you break promises, leave your family, hurt people that you'd never hurt. She thinks she'll never find her soulfinder, but when her dad moves to Colorado, she meets Uriel. Shy, sweet, absent-minded Uriel. Rain thought she'd never find her soulfinder, but maybe she was wrong.
1. Chapter 1 Rain

_**Author's Note:**_

**I already have a _Finding Sky _fanfic before this one for Will, it's called _Curing Emerald_. You don't have to read that to get this, though it might help.  
**

**Here is Abandoning Rain, and please review, follow and favourite.**

**Hope you enjoy!:)**

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_**Rain**_

My brothers were like a kind of cocoon. Like some kind of blanket of security. They wouldn't leave my side, not one of them. If Ash needed to go to the toilet, Daddy would immediately cover up the space he left behind, as if by seeing another person who wasn't in my family I would lose it.

And, to be fair, I probably would have.

Terran had my hand and wouldn't let go, he was holding it so tightly that I was wondering if he was holding it for _me_ or for _him_.

It was pretty damn obvious that he was doing it for himself later when Skylar and I found him sobbing in our downstairs bathroom as Clay tried to comfort him.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Ash, Blaze, Skylar, Zephyrus, Clay and Terran were surrounding me, now that Ash was back from his toilet break, Daddy could walk ahead of us, the soulfinders trailing behind wiping their delicate little tears from their delicate little faces with their delicate little hands.

If you can't already tell, I detest my brothers' soulfinders, and I'd kill them, if it wouldn't kill my brothers.

So I walked with my brothers around me, my head hanging and my blonde hair falling in stupid tresses in front of me, making this all so much harder. I quickly wiped my eyes and angrily pushed the God damn hair out of my face. It didn't help much because they kept swinging back into my eyes.

With a growl of annoyance I yanked my hair up into a bun, trying to look past the mascara smears on my hands. I knew I shouldn't have worn make-up, but I've been wearing make-up since That Day.

It was like an armour, I guess. Protective gear that keeps everyone out.

Which is stupid, because it's just some cheap eye-liner, mascara, lip-stick and black eyeshadow from Wal-Mart.

"It's okay, Rainy." Ash wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me to him as we walked up the slippy hill, the rain pelting down on the umbrellas above us.

"You can cry, you know. It's okay to cry." He whispered into my ear, but I didn't want to cry.

I was angry.

I was so angry.

I still am.

But I didn't want him to know that, so I just nodded. I nodded my head like a good little girl in the hopes that he would leave me alone and I could get this day done with and then move on with my life. I could drink until I couldn't stand and dance until my feet bled and make-out with random guys until I probably contracted some horrible disease.

I just didn't want to be _me_ anymore.

_Me_ wasn't enough for them, it wasn't enough for my family or friends. So I became someone else entirely.

Someone a lot... stronger.

But that's too far ahead, because my story, my life really, began on That Day. There was ten in my family. My dad was the head, the leader of the clan along with his soulfinder, our mother, then Ash and Blaze, the eldest boys who were only ten months apart, Skylar and Zeph were next, only a year apart in age, then came Clay and Terran, they were a year and a half and then the twins, Tyde and Rain.

My twin brother and I.

We all looked the same, all my brothers and I. All different shades of blonde hair with different shades of brown eyes and pale skin. We all had the same smile, the smile that lit up our faces, one that had the dimples in my and my twin's faces appearing and the one that had our brothers looking like angels. All the boys had the same sky-scraper height and football player bodies, minus Terran who prefered Minecraft and Zelda over sports, and me because, well, I'm a girl and I don't really want to be ripped. We all had the same Southern drawl and lived up to the stereotype of liking fried chicken, except for Skylar because he's probably the only person in Georgia who's a vegetarian. Ash, Blaze and Zeph were heroes in high school, all of them being football gods while Clay was a basketball boy, Skylar was Mr. Track-star and Tyde was captain of the swim team. Terran was valedictorian, not a lover of sports.

I was head of the diving team extraordinaire up until I graduated with honours from our little high school in the back woods of Dawstown, Georgia.

I looked up from my thoughts to see my dad quickly wiping his eyes, scrubbing his face and taking deep breaths, but we all knew he was dying inside. Amy was beside him, one of my brothers' soulfinders. She was sobbing hysterically, her small frame shaking. Daddy had an arm around her, but none of my brothers went to help her, they were too busy surrounding me.

The rain fell from the sky and landed on our umbrellas like bullets, the sound echoing all around us, causing me to wince and my brothers to flinch and Amy to sob louder (if that was possible).

We had all heard too many bullets in our lives.

We found my seventh brother then, the great seventh son of the Summers family. The one with all the powers, the one who could see the future and was the best at everything, telekinesis, telepathy, you heard of it, that boy could do it. Tyde had all the powers, while I couldn't do... anything. Nothing at all. I could do telepathy, sure, but only with my family and I didn't like it. It felt slimy, weird and too intimate. My brothers would laugh at me, calling me a wuss because, telepathy was the easiest thing to savants, easier than anything, and if I couldn't do it properly, like them, then I was a loser.

And compared to Tyde Summers, amazing at everything he did, I _was_ a loser.

It didn't really bother me, to be honest, I was like the holy grail in my family, the little girl.

We got to my brother and my mom and finally my brothers broke away from me, each of them wandering off to their soulfinders. They were all around us as Amy continued to cry on my dad's shoulder, and I wanted to scream at her;

_Get off of him! Don't ya understand that this is difficult for everyone?! Don't ya understand that my dad is hurting so much more than you?! Don't ya understand that we _all_ are?! We knew them our whole lives!_

But screaming at her wouldn't sort anything out, so instead I just blocked everyone out and stared at Tyde and Momma.

The priest came over, walking up slowly from the church along with everyone else. Girls and boys from our school, neighbours, doctors, teachers, our whole town really. Everyone was there, but I blocked them out, I blocked them all out.

The priest said more words, more sob inducing, breath stopping words and then he started waving this stick filled with water, as if there wasn't enough water already. He said things about ashes and dust, just like in all the movies, but I just stared at Momma and Tyde.

Momma who was as tall and lean as me, with her brown hair and her brown eyes and tanned skin. And Tyde with his sky-scraper height, blonde hair, brown eyes and pale skin, with his little birthmark underneath his left ear. I had one under my right. It was a perfect circle, nothing exciting really, just a circle. So I stared at my tall mother and my tall brother and I couldn't help but think;

_Why do we put them underground?_

Tyde never stopped talking, and now he won't talk again. They're just under there, both of them are underneath our feet in cramped boxes that won't be able to fit my tall mother and brother. Why would we do that? Who thought of that idea? To bury a person, dead or not, is horrible. To imagine Tyde under there...

Tyde who laughed like a hyena on crack, who squinted all the time because he needed glasses but was "too cool" to wear them. Tyde who secretly loved reality T.V shows and would play on the Xbox with Terran when we were kids when the rest of the family called him a weirdo for not going out and playing in the Georgia sun. Tyde who was voted Prom King in a school he didn't even attend and had just crashed it with a couple of his friends for the spiked punch and cheerleading team. Tyde who was born when I was, two minutes before me. Tyde who I did everything with, who went to school with me, came to all my diving practices and beat up Chris Swallow in eleventh grade when he called me a slut because I broke up with him. Tyde who I shared a room with until we were nineteen and he found Amy and then left me.

Tyde who promised me that he wouldn't be like my other brothers, who promised he wouldn't forget about me when his soulfinder came along, but did anyway, in the end, because Amy was like all the others. She was too alluring, too beautiful for Tyde not to fall immediately in love with her and for them both not to run off together and get married in secret.

I'd like to say that we made up, after that, that he came around and apologised for not inviting his twin sister – his _best friend_ – to his wedding, but he didn't come back. Not for two years.

And when he did come back...

Tyde wasn't an asshole like I'm portraying him to be, he was the best guy you'd ever meet in your life. He was loyal and kind and funny and loving and stupid as hell, he was the goofiest idiot you'd ever meet in your life, which is why I know that leaving me wasn't his idea.

It was Amy's.

But standing there, in the rain with my whole family and town surrounding me, all of them crying and whispering about how this shouldn't have happened, I realised that Amy didn't deserve my hate. Amy didn't deserve anything. There was nothing I could do to make her hurt more than she did That Day. Nothing I could've done to make her sob harder or miss him more, because the tiny girl was at her limit, her whole body shaking like a tiny kitten and all I could think was;

_Is this what having a soulfinder makes ya? Completely dependent on them? Are our soulfinders like drugs and we're addicted?_

Because that doesn't sound like a good thing. When my soulfinder died, would I be like Amy?

_I'll never know._ It was all I could think when it came to my soulfinder. Even though I'm only twenty-two now, I know I'll never meet him. Every single one of my brothers have theirs, even my dead one, but mine isn't out there. He's gone.

**Loving son, brother and husband. We won't ever forget you, Tyde. **

It seemed so... impersonal, you know? Like we were strangers, like we didn't know the guy, but I knew him better than anyone, even his stupid soulfinder.

I didn't know I was on my knees until the coldness of the mud seeped into my skin and my hands landed on the wet grass. My breathing was ragged – I didn't notice that, either – my heart was hurting, which sounds stupid, but it was. My chest hurt, it ached, and not just because my brother was gone.

Something was very, very wrong.

My arms were numb. Completely. Numb.

Someone could shoot my arm and I wouldn't feel it.

It felt like a heart attack, which is stupid to say as I've never had one before, but you hear about it from movies. That's what it felt like. My breathing was stopping, my heart was beating furiously, yet I swear it was stuttering. My chest was aching so bad and my arms felt like dead, heavy weights.

And that, my darlin', is how you have an anxiety attack.

But before I could be rushed to the hospital, or even before anyone noticed, it was gone. It was over and I was left kneeling over my brother's grave with an aching chest and arms that were slowly coming back to life.

And the thoughts of everyone around me in my head.

I was screaming and my hands were clamped over my ears. Tears were rolling down my cheeks, but I was screaming, so they were the least of my worries.

It was too much, you know? Too many voices, there were so many it sounded like a sea of people in a mall or something all shouting into my ears. One second I just had my own thoughts, the next I had everyone's thoughts. Everyone around me. All of their voices swimming in and out of focus in my head, all of them screaming and _screaming_ and SCREAMING! I was rocking back-and-forth, legs slick with the wet Georgian mud and black dress soaked from the rain. Hands were all over my body, trying to restrain me and lift me up and they did, eventually. They brought me to a car and then drove me home and then washed me and put me in bed and then woke me up the next morning.

We haven't mentioned That Day, since. We haven't mentioned my brother's and Momma's funeral since.

We haven't mentioned it, but it's all I think about.

The day we buried my mom and brother, and the day I got my savant ability.

Or... abilit_ies_.


	2. Chapter 2 Rain

_**Rain**_

The blades of grass feel nice between my fingers, crisp and cold. They're kind of icy in the early October sun, so they almost snap in my fingers which causes a lazy smile to spread across my face. The ground isn't wet, just cold and frozen, snow becoming a real possibility for the locals around here.

Which I guess... are my family now, now that Daddy moved us all here.

I say "us all" when really I only mean my father and I.

I don't know what possessed me to agree, if maybe all those years of going to church has made me want to purge myself of all the sins I've committed in the days since That Day. If maybe I think that by moving back in with my dad I can have a clean slate and start fresh. That's what Daddy keeps telling me anyway.

But he doesn't know what a girl can get up to when she has a year to herself.

When she's got nothing to lose.

"Hey, are you all right?" A lilting, sweet voice asks from above me. Of course, I knew she was there and has watched me for at least three minutes, her sweet, little thoughts flowing into my mind like syrup.

I blink my eyes open and turn my head to the right to see a tiny girl standing in the front yard of the next house. A large, monstrosity of a structure, that resembles our new one.

"I'm fine." I drawl, stretching my arms out and arching my back which makes the small blonde arch her eyebrows.

"It's just that... well," She blushes. "Um... you're kind of lying in the middle of the garden." I grin at her and her eyelids flutter, her brows furrowing as she steps closer to the tiny stone wall that divides her nicely trimmed lawn from my over-grown one. "Are you... are you the new neighbour?" She asks sweetly, her accent registering as British, probably English.

"Bingo." I say and she smiles, her little face brightening as she steps up to the wall and puts her hand out, her angelic features lit up.

"I'm Sky Bright, your neighbour." She announces proudly, as if she had to fight off people to get the position.

I wave her hand away and give her a bland smirk. "Rain Summers, eighth kid of the Summer's household and regular slut." I wink at her and her face goes scarlet.

"S-slut?" She stutters out and I smile at her.

"Slapper, prostitute, brothel worker, wench, etcetera." I wave a dismissing hand and give her another lazy smile as she frowns at me.

"Oh... well, um... I like nutella." She offers nervously and I give her a thumbs up.

"Same here."

"Well...cool."

"Sky?" We both look to the imposing form stalking towards us. He's tall, like a giant and lean with muscle, well-built. He has a natural dark tan, making him look Hispanic, but has the strangest green eyes that don't match his skin tone. A scowl takes residence on his gorgeous face, his eyes skimming over me with a firm and fixed glare. He radiates a powerful energy, one that screams look-at-me-for-too-long-and-I'll-punch-you-in-the- throat.

He's my kind of guy.

His thoughts have been in my head for about four minutes now, which means he was watching Blondie – Sky's new name - from his jeep across the road. Which sounds pretty creepy, but by the way Blondie's eyes brighten and her whole body seems to immediately shift towards him, I doubt she minds.

"Hey." I purr, giving him the smile that men can't resist. I prop myself up with my elbows and cock a brow.

He just gives me a frown and looks to Blondie. She looks up at him... and then it hits me.

_Soulfinders_.

With a groan of annoyance, I flop back down, my head whacking the ground as I throw my arm over my eyes, hoping – no, _praying_ – that maybe these savants have super, rock solid walls that will keep their thoughts where they're meant to be.

In _their_ heads, not mine.

Of course, that's too much to ask for.

Their sick, love-struck thoughts about each other leak into my mind like a running faucet.

_Gorgeous... last night... fun... Xav... Sally... mygodilovehimsomuchithurts. _Thoughts by humans usually sink in swift, clean and clear as a bell. Most savants are kind of static-y, cut off sentences before mushing together when there's great emotion behind them. The blonde one – Blondie's - thoughts filter into my head, causing me to chuff in disgust as deeper feelings and urges and thoughts come into my head. Making them _my_ feelings and urges and thoughts.

Well... I'd actually like to spend a night with this guy anyway, but the chick is so not helping with all her mushy, lovey-dovey crap.

The guy's feelings are dirtier, yet still mushy and lovey-dovey.

_I... lingerie she's wearing... blonde hair... soft skin..._

It goes into details, his mind reminiscing about nights with Blondie, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut and fly into a sitting position.

"_Stop_!" I growl at the boy, lips curled back in disgust while his scowl is wiped off his face, his eyes wide.

"Stop what?"

"Stop yer thinking, it's gross."

_Oh God, "yer"? Did I really just say that? I only talk like a hick when I get emotional._

Well, shit.

Blondie's lips part in surprise, blue eyes wide. "You're a... a...?"

"Savant?" I stage whisper, cupping my hands around my mouth and gasping dramatically before I roll my eyes, lifting the hair off the nape of my neck and turning around to show them my tattoo.

"That's what the neck says, so obviously."

The guy – his name keeps echoing around the girl's head, so even though she's looking and talking to me, he's all she's thinking about, so his name must be "Zed", unless she's having trouble saying the alphabet backwards – Zed, looks at me as if I'm something he just found on the ground.

Which... seeing as I'm sitting on it... I kind of guess he did.

"Are you an idiot? Why the hell would you get that tattooed to your neck?"

I bristle at his words, being called an "idiot" one too many times when I was younger makes you do that. "No." I say, slowly. I lose my cool pretty easily nowadays, girls say it's because I'm a slut, guys used to say it' because I drink too much.

I suspect it's a mixture of both.

"I'm not an idiot. I was just hopin' that maybe one day I'd be swimmin' with my hair up and my soulfinder may just see my neck and – _BAM_ – we've found each other." My twang is thick, it's seeming to get thicker the closer I am to my family which sucks. Being away from them and Georgia opened up my mind and made me realised how "cute" and "quaint" I sounded. Of course, when cute and quaint went out the door and I had done something bad, the people I had met across my travels used my accent against me. Calling me a hick or hillbilly. It hurt me at first, I always liked the Southern accent, but now it doesn't bother me anymore, they can call me what they want. After all, sticks and stones may break my bones...

"Oh," Blondie's face falls, as if the poor thing has realised she can't adopt every puppy in the world. "I'm so sorry."

Which, of course, causes me to roll my eyes and snort in derision. "Sorry" is a word I've heard one too many times.

I don't want people to be sorry.

I just want them to leave me alone until I need them again, simple as.

Before I can open my mouth to spout off some other sarcastic remark, I hear a voice I haven't heard in person for one year, two weeks, six days and... well, I guess I've lost track of the hours, minutes and seconds.

"Rain?"

My heart stutters in my chest before I take a deep breath, channelling the calm I've had since That Day.

Standing up swiftly, I wipe my jeans and turn around, face breaking into a smirk.

"Daddy, how are ya?" The drawl comes back, but as I slowly make my way towards him I don't mind as much.

His face breaks into a smile, he takes his hand away from his stubbly chin and throws his arms out. He quickly takes two huge steps and wraps his arms around me, hauling me into his embrace.

He smells like chicken and summer and _home_, and I didn't know I missed him until right this second.

"Oh, darlin', darlin', darlin'. What am I going to do with ya, eh?" He mumbles into the top of my head, patting down my hair and squeezing me to his broad frame.

"Open the front door because I've been freezin' my ass off out here for two hours?" I mumble into the fabric of his jacket, and he chuckles, pulling away from him, and I'm so close to just shaking my head and pulling him into another hug that it scares me.

So instead, I just yank the keys out of his hand and skip up to the door, not bothering to look at Blondie and Zed as they awkwardly make their way into her house.

I hear my dad sigh before he comes after me. I push the door open, the scent of dust and air freshener prominent as I step inside the house, Daddy hot on my heels.

"It's awesome, right? Got it for a good price as well, out of the..." He trails off, smile slipping before he just shrugs, gives me a tighter smile and strides to the nearest window to have a cigarette.

But he knows that I know what he was about to say, because his thoughts rang in my head loud and clear.

_Out of the life assurance..._

It's surprising how much money you get when you lose a loved one.

Not enough, of course, but it's still a lot.

He comes back in after about five minutes, but I'm upstairs now, wandering through room after room before I find the second biggest and flop onto the bed. Staring up at the blank ceiling as the thoughts from neighbours and people I've never met trickle into my mind. Talking blocks them out most of the time, the more I do, the less I hear, but it's times like these, quiet moments, that I hear everything.

It's why I don't like quiet moments.

The thumping music at a bar sometimes blocks them out, the whispers of a guy in bed does the trick as well, the effect of adrenaline after a work-out, but most importantly, the laziness of a drug or buzz from alcohol that makes not only _my_ voice, but _their_ voices slur as well in my mind, making everything mush together and bearable.

I hear a knock on my door through the haze of self-pity and voices. Daddy smiles sheepishly at me from the doorway before he looks around the empty, white room and walks towards me, gingerly sitting at the edge of my new bed.

"'Sup?" I ask, giving him a nod and he scratches his stubbly chin, obviously letting his light brown beard grow out.

"Ya've been gone for a long time, Rain." He drawls, his accent thicker and deeper than mine, and I sigh as his speech filters into my head, but I let him go on about it anyway.

"All ya did was leave a voicemail and then ya up and went." I see the anger in his movements, in his clenching and unclenching hands and jaw as he stares at the cream carpet. Now probably isn't the time to mention that I want him to pronounce words properly. "I wake up and yer gone, what the hell was with that?" He demands, looking over at me, and I sigh, throwing my arm over my tired eyes.

"I don't know, Daddy." I go for the small, meek sounding voice, but he grunts.

"Ya know very well, yer momma didn't raise an idiot, so why'd ya leave?" He persists, and I slowly lift my arm up, staring at him with a cocked brow.

"You know why I left, Daddy. You're no idiot, and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out anyway." I'm happy with my voice then, no accent and completely comprehensible.

He growls, spouting off swear words and cusses. "Yer just like your mother." He says, before pushing himself up and stalking off, just like I'd do if I was in his situation.

But as he leaves he calls out six words that makes my heart drop to my toes and my façade fade.

"Yer brothers will be here soon!"

Oh, shit.

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_**Author's Note:  
**_

**Here's chapter two! I update every weekend and thank you for all your amazing reviews. Please keep them coming and follow for my updates and favourite to make me feel better!  
**

**Strangely, I think this fanfic might be more light-hearted than Curing Emerald, even though her brother and mother are dead...**

**Ah, well.**

**Hope you enjoyed!:)**


	3. Chapter 3 Uriel

_**Uriel**_

"Here you go, man." Victor slides the tray with lunch onto my study table, and I blink before looking over at him.

"Thanks." I murmur distantly, not seeing the point in telling him that I can get my own food and that I'm not an invalid, because I know he's just trying to take care of me.

Even though _I'm_ the older brother.

But, it never really felt like that.

Vick doesn't leave, but I didn't expect him to. It's what everyone does. They bring up food or a drink and then they make painful small talk before ultimately going down stairs and back to their soul finders.

But, just like me, Vick hasn't found his soulfinder yet, which puts us in the same, lonely boat.

"So," He says, voice sounding from beside me, but my mind is elsewhere, and my eyes are focused out the window.

It's what I do, what I've always done. Teachers used to complain to me about day-dreaming, but it's not as if they could really say anything to my parents. So what if I didn't pay attention in class? My grades were all A's, and I've never flunked a test in my life. So, after Freshman year my teachers just stopped telling me to pay attention. They knew I'd somehow understand everything they said and would hand up the best homework or assignments in class.

School was good, I guess. I wasn't much of a bad boy, like most of my other brothers. And I didn't have the brains to be a geek like Yves, so I just sat by myself a lot. Not in a sad kind of way, I had friends, but I preferred my own mind over anyone elses. I spaced out a lot, to the worry of my parents and teasing of my brothers. And it's not even because I have a lot on my mind, it's purely for the fact that I just like it. I like being able to think and think and think, coming up with stupid scenarios and ridiculous theories without having the pressure of telling someone else. Because, believe me, if anyone could see into my mind, they'd think I was insane.

Which is why I spend a lot of my time focusing on strengthening my shields. They were stronger then anything ever, and with the arrival of Will's soulfinder, she taught me a few tricks to get them even stronger. Zed and Mom can't hear my thoughts, which is always good, and Vick can't compel me to do anything. Having strong shields practically slices in half all of the worries a savant has.

"Uriel?" The light touch on my shoulder makes me jump and snap out of my thoughts.

The downside of being a day-dreamer? Even the most un-stealthy of people can sneak up on you.

"What?" I ask, blinking and he rolls his eyes.

"I've been talking to you for the last ten minutes. Have you not heard _anything_ I said?" His grey eyes flash with irritation and I sigh.

Pissing people off is another big downside.

"Sorry, I was just..."

"Off in your own little world." He finishes. "Yeah, Mom's being telling us that since I was five." He mutters, and I give him a sheepish smile.

"Sorry."

He sighs again, brushing it off. "Don't worry about it man, just... just eat your lunch." He stalks out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with not finding their soulfinder. Most people have anger. They find that breaking things is a lot easier than dealing with the suffocating fact that maybe they might die without finding their soul mate. Many sink in to a depression. Days and weeks and months flying past them without them really doing much. Some go about their lives, trying to keep busy and not think about the thing that they could have, the thing that could make their lives ten times better. Many go for the pessimistic route of thinking they'll never find theirs and then trying to get over the fact, even though it's not something you can really get over.

I wonder if many spend their time analysing the fact that we have soulfinders.

I mean, why?

Why soulfinders?

Why do _we_ get soul mates?

It has its perks, sure, you've got the fact that their's someone perfect and made just for you out there, but then, once you find them, you're completely dependant on them. You're unable to function _without_ them. They're like a drug and you're an addict. They're like a disease and you've just caught it.

But the cruelest thing of all is the fear that lurks in the back of every savants mind.

_What if I never find them?_

Well, my friend, if you never find your soulfinder, just do what I do.

Just... think.


	4. Chapter 4 Rain

_**Rain**_

Ash Summers. Blaze Summers. Skylar Summers. Zephyrus Summers. Clay Summers. Terran Summers. Tyde Summers.

And me.

Little ol' Rain Summers.

If you haven't noticed, there's a pattern in our idiotic names. Ash and Blaze are named after things relating to fire. Skylar and Zephyrus are named after things relating to air. Clay and Terran are named after things relating to earth. And Tyde and I were named after things related to water.

The perks of having crazy, savant parents, I guess.

I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't named Lake or River or Brooke, but I'll live. Clay, however, is still bitter that he wasn't named Forrest.

Skylar and Zeph are just thankful one of them wasn't named Storm, because my parents were seriously considering it.

Ash is the eldest at the ripe, old age of twenty-nine, and I'm the youngest at just-about twenty two. It was my birthday two weeks and six days ago.

God, it's weird to say _my _birthday and not "ours".

"I have arrived!" Booms a voice in the entrance hall as I toss my cell from one hand to the other, bored out of my freakin' mind.

"Skylar!" Dad's happy voice sounds from downstairs, along with the thoughts of his son and how much he missed him and blah, blah, blah.

"Where is she?" His excited voice bursts out, and I roll my eyes. The man is twenty-seven, but he sounds like a three year old on Christmas morning.

Dad chuckles. "Upstairs."

The heavy thumps on the stairs and Skylar's thoughts becoming louder and flooding my mind more easily clues me into the fact that he's on his way up.

He bursts through the doors, all bright brown eyes, red cheeks and floppy blonde hair.

"Rain!" He exclaims and it strikes me, in this moment, that I can't remember the last time someone was so happy to see me.

He discards my shocked face and sprints for me, sweeping me into his arms and crushing me to his chest. It's not as broad as Daddy's or most of my other brother's as Skylar's lean with muscle, he's a track star, a runner, so he doesn't need the big, bulky muscles.

He smells of mint as he pulls away from me, flashing me a smile and showing me his endearingly chipped front tooth. It's not a huge chip, only noticeable if you were there the day Blaze tried to feed Skylar meat and Skylar ran away, slipping and smashing his face into the pavement.

He chipped a tooth and broke his nose, the poor guy.

But, that's what you get for being a vegetarian in our family.

"Jeez Louise, have you grown?" He pulls me back into him, leaning his chin on my head before pulling away and giving an incredulous laugh. "Holy crap, you have!" He gives me an amused look before lifting his hand up. "High-five, you giant."

With a roll of my eyes I high-five him and his grin widens.

He bounces over to my bed – because Skylar can't walk like a normal person – and plonks down on it. Getting comfortable in the nest of pillows I made for myself and folding his arms behind his head.

"So, little sister, what's being goin' on in your life since you ran away?" His Southern accent isn't as thick anymore either. I guess having an Australian soulfinder and living there does that to a man.

"Nothing, really." I shrug and perch on the study desk in the corner, hands shoved in the pockets of my leather jacket.

He raises a blonde brow. "You did nothing for a whole year?"

I nod and he just chuckles before standing up.

"Whatever, Rainy, I might not care that much, but just think up a believable lie before the Spanish Inquisition come."

I groan, covering my face with my hands as I remember my eldest brothers.

"Shit, I forgot about them."

When I look up, I see him shake his head before heading towards the door.

"To forget about those two, you really need to have been away for a long time." He says sadly. "But then, I guess you have."

And then he shuts the door.

* * *

_**oo00oo00oo00oo**_

"Yoo-hoo? Anyone home?" There's a rap on the front door before it's pushed open and the tallest and lankiest of all my brothers steps through the door, pushing his white-blonde hair off his forehead.

"Terran!" Skylar cries, leaping from the couch we were sitting on and bouncing – see, I told you, it's all this man does – towards his younger brother. "You're here!"

Terran chuckles at his over-excited antics, all of us used to them, and does that man hug guys do. Patting Skylar on the back and then both of them breaking free before Terran's eyes zero in on me.

"Rain?" He breathes, shock and awe mixed up in his face, his thoughts telling me just how happy and glad he is to see me.

"Where's Natalie?" No, "hello" or "how are you", I get straight to the point.

He swallows, slowly making his way over to me. "She's in Brussels with her family." He replies, stopping in front of me and shifting nervously. "Don't worry, you won't have to see her."

I don't know when it became obvious to my brothers that I hated their soulfinders, but I'm glad it did. Saves me the trouble of having to pretend to like them.

I just nod and switch my eyes back to the television as he shoves his hands in his pockets.

"I missed you." He murmurs, but I ignore him. He's like all the rest. Terran and I were close growing up, not as close as I was to Tyde – I could never be as close to anyone as I was to Tyde – but still pretty close. Tyde and I were the only ones who didn't tease him for not being a big, Southern jock, and instead staying in to play video games. He was always there for me on the rare days that Tyde couldn't be, but just like all the others, his soulfinder came around and he was so far gone for her it was a pathetic. No more did he follow Tyde and I with rapt attention and awe even though he was older than us. No, Tyde and I went out the window when the beautiful and European _Natalie_ came around.

All dark hair and long lashes and perfection. She's his soulfinder and I'm his sister, so their was no contest. Of course he'd get up and leave, and I was so mad at him, but I didn't hold it against him as much as I do now because I had Tyde.

But, years later, I don't have Tyde.

But Terran still has Natalie.

"So..." Terran says, awkwardly, sitting beside Skylar on the couch. "Anybody else come yet?"

"Nope." Skylar replies, picking up his bag of chips. "It's just you, me, Rain and Daddy."

Terran nods and I glance over at him.

"Are you not going to go find him?"

He clears his throat, shaking his head. "Um, I guess. Maybe later. I mean, I saw him last month and we talk all the time." He shrugs and I nod.

"Of course," I muse. "I mean, I'm the only shitty kid, right? The only one that never talks to him or any of you."

"Rain..." Skylar pleads as Terran flushes and tries to stutter something out.

_Pathetic._

"You're right, Rain. You're the only one that never talks to any of us." Spinning around in my seat I stare in shock at Zeph. He stands in the doorway, clad in his usual jeans, shirt and old, dusty, brown leather jacket. He grins at me as he drags in the last of his luggage and then throws his arms out. "Now, are you gonna just sit there or give your favourite brother some love?"

The corners of my mouth tilt up. "Your shields have gotten stronger."

He shrugs, still grinning. "Having your thoughts plucked from your head isn't the nicest feeling. You still remember it, right?"

To be honest, I can't remember the last time someone could tell me what I was thinking before I even thought it, but all I do is flash him a smirk and then stride over to him, wrapping my arms around his built form.

"How was life, sis?" We break apart and I stare at him.

I make a non-committal grunt before changing the subject. "How's Germany?"

He surveys the room before chuckling. "A lot cleaner than this dump. Seriously, you move in today and it's already a state? Where's Dad?"

_Dad_? Ooh, someone's soulfinder is teaching them "proper" English, as it's so often called.

Twirling around I head back to the couch. "He's out getting some necessities and food."

"Ooh," Skylar breathes as I sit down. "Are you cooking some of your famous food?"

"Yeah," Terran eagerly joins the conversation. "Your fries and chicken?"

"A big helping of avocado fries for me, of course." Sklyar supplies and Zeph grins.

"Awesome. I haven't had some good food in years." He rubs his hands together in anticipation as I lazily flick through the channels.

"I hate to disappoint, but I'm not making any of _Momma's _food tonight." _Or ever_. I silently add.

That shuts them up, thankfully, which lets me get back to watching the television and wondering why I ever agreed to come back to my family.

And how long I have left until I snap and take off again.


End file.
